On Tuesday, the Jharkhand High Court took cognizance of Ankita Singh’s murder case and summoned the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary in the case. The bench of Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan asked for the status report on the case and ordered to provide adequate security to the deceased girl’s family.
According to the reports, Ankita was burnt alive on August 23 after the accused allegedly poured petrol on her while she was asleep in her bedroom. Shahrukh allegedly poured the inflammable fuel on her from the window of her room. She was taken to the hospital shortly after the incident and on August 28, she succumbed to her burn injuries.
Jharkhand High Court takes cognizance of the Dumka school girl murder case, summons DGP and seeks a report on the matter. The court also instructs to provide adequate security to the girl’s family.
— ANI (@ANI) August 30, 2022
Meanwhile, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) also took cognizance of the event and said that Ankita was a minor aged 16. It rubbished the claims put up by the Jharkhand Police who said that Ankita was 19 years old. The Committee demanded strict action against the accused and said that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 would be applied to the case.
The CWC said that according to the 10th class mark sheet of the deceased girl, her age was around 16 and that she was a minor when the incident happened. Dumka CWC Chairman Amarendra Kumar said, “We recommend that sections of the POCSO Act be added to the FIR as per our investigation the girl was a minor”.
According to Ankita’s 10th class mark sheet which has been made public by the lagatar24 media channel, Ankita was born on November 26, 2006. Amarendra Kumar referred to the mark sheet and reiterated that Ankita was minor when she died. “Police claimed that the girl was 19 and so they did not add POCSO in the FIR. However her mark sheet says that she was born in the year 2006 and so the Police should add POSCO to the FIR lodged against Shahrukh Hussain”, the Dumka CWC Chairman stated.
Earlier, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chief had written to the Director General of Police asking for a fair probe and time-bound investigation into the case. Also, days after Ankita’s death, videos of her last words are going viral over social media where she can be heard demanding painful death for the accused who set her on fire. “He should die the way I am dying today,” the Dumka girl had said who breathed her last at 2.30 am on Sunday.
As reported earlier, the Police and district administration are currently less focused on punishing accused Shahrukh Hussain. CM Hemant Soren meanwhile has condemned the incident and has declared financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh, a day after Ankita breathed her last.
